Meditative elements in contemporary Ukrainian music

The study of meditativeness in music is of particular interest to scholars, especially when the interaction of unique factors can lead to the emergence of new patterns or a profound rethinking of long-established norms or laws. This phenomenon is evident in Ukrainian music of the last third of the 20th century and the early 21st century. The aim of this article is to uncover the potential of meditativeness as a style-forming phenomenon (using examples from Ukrainian compositional work) and to identify its analogs, which play a significant role in its practical implementation and subsequent interpretation. An important aspect is also establishing broader connections with phenomena rooted in Ukrainian music, thought, and culture, particularly those currently identified as “new sacred”. This analysis has led to an approach that allows tracing connection between contemporary understandings of meditation in music and the archetypal and conceptual layers of Ukrainian musical culture, as reflected in musical thought, poetics, and the core stylistic models of individual works. In this way, the classification of a particular piece as belonging to the meditative sphere depends on the interpretation of stylistic techniques by both artists and researchers as elements of implementing a specific concept. At the same time, the very idea of meditative perception of the world and the related concepts can be seen as a significant style-modulating factor. This factor is grounded in a substantial reexamination of various academic genres or artistic concepts, which can be defined as artistic experimentation.